# These 10 Women Who Revolutionized Computer Science

Modern computing is not just the result of major technological breakthroughs: it is also the work of extraordinary women.

Their legacy is everywhere: in our computers, our communications, our navigation systems, our programming languages, and even in the most recent cryptographic technologies.

Yet, some of these names are surely still unknown to you.

On their own, these brilliant scientists, engineers, and programmers have:

• written the first languages
• created the foundations of the modern network
• made computing more accessible
• secured the Internet
• contributed to major scientific breakthroughs
• paved the way for entire new disciplines

This article pays tribute to ten of them, whose work continues to influence our digital daily life.

Shafi Goldwasser (1958 - present)

Cryptography

A mathematician and specialist in modern cryptography, Shafi Goldwasser received the Turing Award for her work on zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP).

These techniques make it possible to prove a piece of information without ever revealing it, a concept at the heart of blockchains, secure authentication, and data privacy.

She is one of the most influential researchers in contemporary computer security.

Radia Perlman (1951 - present)

Networking and telecommunications

Nicknamed the "mother of the Internet," Radia Perlman invented the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), a mechanism essential for avoiding loops in Ethernet networks.

Her invention allowed the Internet to expand massively and remain stable despite millions of interconnections.

She also contributed to numerous network security and optimization protocols.

Margaret Hamilton (1936 - present)

Software engineering

Lead software engineer for the Apollo missions' embedded software, Margaret Hamilton designed the programs that enabled Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to land on the Moon in 1969.

Her team invented novel real-time error management techniques, essential when the lunar module's computer became overloaded just before landing.

Her rigorous approach is the origin of the term "software engineering."

Barbara Liskov (1939 - present)

Software engineering

A computer scientist and professor at MIT, Barbara Liskov received the Turing Award in 2008 for her contributions to object-oriented programming.

She formulated the Liskov substitution principle, essential to the design of reliable and modular software.

Her work deeply influences modern languages, from Java to C#, as well as distributed systems and databases.

Kathleen Booth (1922 - 2022)

Software engineering

Kathleen Booth wrote the first assembly language and took part in the design of several British computers, notably the Automatic Relay Calculator.

Her work on the symbolic translation of machine instructions was crucial in making programming more intuitive.

She is one of these pioneers whose contribution is fundamental, yet still too little known to the general public.

Betty Holberton (1917 - 2001)

Software engineering

A member of the team of programmers behind the ENIAC, one of the first electronic computers, Betty Holberton contributed to the design of the first compilers, as well as the first data standards.

She strongly influenced the creation of the COBOL language and took part in numerous foundational projects of the computing era.

Joan Clarke (1917 - 1996)

Cryptography

An exceptional cryptanalyst, Joan Clarke joined Alan Turing's team at Bletchley Park during the Second World War.

She contributed to the efforts to decipher Enigma, the machine used by the German army.

Her work, kept secret for a long time, helped speed up the end of the war by intercepting crucial communications.

Hedy Lamarr (1914 - 2000)

Physics and telecommunications

A Hollywood actress and brilliant inventor, Hedy Lamarr developed with George Antheil a frequency-hopping system intended to jam radio communications during the Second World War.

The goal: to prevent radio-guided torpedoes from being intercepted.

This idea, patented at the time, remained underused for a long time… before becoming the basis for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS technologies.

Grace Hopper (1906 - 1992)

Software engineering

A software pioneer and Navy officer, Grace Hopper revolutionized programming by developing the first compiler, capable of transforming human-readable text into machine instructions.

She then took part in the creation of the COBOL language, still used today in banks and administrations.

She is also credited with the term "computer bug," after finding an insect stuck in a computer relay.

Ada Lovelace (1815 - 1852)

Pioneer

Ada Lovelace is often considered the first programmer in history.

In 1843, while working on Charles Babbage's analytical engine (a conceptual ancestor of the computer), she devised an algorithm for calculating Bernoulli numbers.

She already understood that machines might one day manipulate more than just numbers: sounds, images, symbols…

This visionary intuition far exceeded the knowledge of her time. Ada did not merely write a program: she imagined what modern computing would become.